Goodmans GDVD157

Author's product rating:   

Picture Playback	Excellent
Sound Level	Good
Range of Features	Above Average
Durability	Good
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Plays cds, dvds, cdrw, jpeg
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I needed a new dvd player and decided to go to a well know stockist of quite a few brands. Untimately I was looking to keep the cost down, somthing that has all the toys with a fraction of the cost. The unit in the end was purchased from Currys.

I came accross a goodmans GDVD157, on first view the unit looked modern, I liked the general look of it. The price was £36.99, which is a very good price for a good DVD player. I liked the fact that it was CD, CDRW, MPEG, JPEG, and VCD compatible.

One feature I liked about this unit is that you can play your downloaded pictures from your computer, save them to disc and play them on your dvd player. it plays them as a slideshow, holding each picture for a few seconds, then moving on to the next one. You can still pause the picture should you require to do so.

Playability
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Generally I was very impressed with the unit. The images are very clear. The on screen menus are simple to perform. You can switch the screen size while your film is playing and zoom in the picture should you require it. All the options are easy to understand.

You can forward and reverse scene by scene, or use the old fashoned fast forward or rewind. You can even play a scene in slow motion!, why you would use this is beyond me but it is there if you want it.

Packaging
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The unit comes in a brown box, which has polystyrene reinforcements to each end. this supports the DVD inside the box and allows safe storage and transportation.

Included with the DVD
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Remote control

Scart Lead

Batterys for remote

Instruction manual.

Unit dimentions
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The unit is very slimline and futuristic looking. Very pleasant on the eye, and looks a lot more money than what it actually is,which I think is a good thing).

Width - 360 mm
Depth - 262 mm
Height - 45 mm

The unit weighs 2.1 kg.

Unit details
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DVD, CD, Picture CD compatible
CD-R, CD-RW capable (but there are restrictions stated in the instruction manual)

PAL/NTSC colour system
4:3/16:9 screen format select

composite video output

Scart R-G-B output

Down-mix stereo output

Dolby digital output

Multi subtitle, multi language and multi angle select

On screen control menu
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Digital zooming

Slow motion forward

Child lock (doesn't look big enough to get one in!)

Auto screen saver

Other specifications
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Video format MPEG 2

Audio format MPEG 1, LAYER1, LAYER 2, LAYER 3

S/N ratio > 92 dB

THD < 0.04%

Summery
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For the money I paid, which was around £36.99. I found this DVD player value for money and quite high spec. I would reccomend anyone buying this that is on a budget.